I too have my experiences of living on a council estate, of industries gone, of struggling to make ends meet. I was barely helped by the government when I needed them but c'est la vie. I'm not going to remain bitter about it because I proved them wrong and am better for it.

I'm not mourning the loss of Maggie Thatcher but neither am I celebrating it.

If anyone has read my previous posts on this thread, my feelings on the late Mrs Thatcher ought to be clear. Like Iluvandy, I lived through her administration and base most of my opinions on that experience.

I'm now considering the morality of those protestors accused of 'dancing on her grave' in various cities in Britain. Despite my loathing of her, and her policies, my instinct is to dismiss these celebrations as disrespectful and lacking in taste. I could not bring myself to behave in this way - no matter who had died.

However, I am surprised to find that I cannot vilify those who celebrate Thatcher's death as readily as I would expect. Since her death was announced, the circus has been in town, with endless hours of tributes in the media, telling us how she 'saved the country' or 'made Britain great again'. In other words, a life to celebrate. Of course, dissenters have been given their chance to speak, but, generally, as a sideshow, in the media's rather obvious attempt to appease those who require 'balanced reporting'.

We had 7 hours of 'debate' in parliament, where politicians recounted their endless anecdotes and tributes - even opponents, mostly, seemed reluctant to be seen to criticise. This was funded to the tune of almost £4k per person in the form of expenses. We've had Falklands veteran Simon Weston ( a decent bloke of admirable courage ), claim that Thatcher's handling of that war put Britain back on the map as it was restored to greatness. Who's dancing on graves now ?

And we have the state funeral 'light' this wednesday. This will be viewed all over the world, and how can it be seen as anything other than a massive tribute to a leader who was loved by her people ? And yet we know that nothing could be further from the truth. Even Thatcher's supporters acknowledge she was divisive, so shouldn't the feelings of those who vigourously opposed her be taken into account ? We are not talking about a tiny minority here. And, of course, there is the ultimate irony that public money pays for a send-off for the queen of privatisation.

The bottom line is, we are telling the world how wonderful she was, end of story, so it can be no surprise that those who disagree feel the need to show their feelings in the strongest terms possible. The news of Margaret Thatcher's passing has re-opened some old, and very deep, wounds within this country. My own sense of morality tells me I mustn't celebrate, but it seems I am unable to condemn those who do.

Having finally managed to bring myself to read this thread, yours is the one post that speaks for me, so thank you Sid. No I won't be dancing on Margaret Thatcher's grave but neither will I be watching a single minute of this travesty of a funeral.

It makes me angry that a woman who showed so much contempt for the people of this country - and I mean Scotland as well as the rest of the UK - should be given the same honour which was accorded to that other politician, Sir Winston Churchill, in 1965. Churchill wasn't perfect but he led Britain through the dark days of WW2, and for that he will not, and should not, be forgotten. I did watch his funeral on TV and there was an overwhelming sense of mourning amongst the vast crowds who thronged the route of the procession, in the same way as it was for Princess Diana and the Queen Mother. Tomorrow, on the other hand, the route is as likely to be lined with protestors as it is with those who, for whatever reason, either do feel some genuine grief at her passing or feel under an obligation to go through the motions of grieving. Putting it bluntly, Margaret Thatcher should be laid to rest with the minimum of fuss and not paraded on the world stage like the heroine she most certainly wasn't.

Good posts, Aileen and Sid. For me the failing of the woman was not entirely in her policies, which someone would eventually had to tackle - other than the Falklands war, which was frankly a disgrace no matter what others may say, both in the way it came about, and the way it was resolved. Her big failing for me was in her personality - which was cold, humourless, and frankly bullying. It would take a very strange person to be attracted to that. I wouldn't exactly dance on her grave, but I'm glad she's gone. She cast a long shadow over our country and society. Maybe now we can begin to get over it.

I feel certain that history will prove Margaret Thatcher was good for UK. The hurt is much too close to be able to give an objective view of her successes and failings.

Many communities suffered by closing down uneconomic mines and ship building yards. However, in many ways the Unions should in due course look to themselves for their unhelpful attitudes.

And how long is it going to take the Tories in Scotland to find a way back? Bringing about the demise of your own party in an entire nation isn't exactly a glowing legacy, and one which can only have been instrumental in sowing the seeds of Scottish independence which, should it ever come to pass, will see the end of the United Kingdom and all that that will entail. Mrs Thatcher could have a lot to answer for here.

I agree BBH I did not watch the funeral and I am glad about that. All that hot air about her made me feel sick.People forget what damage she did to this country in saying that I mean the North of England, Scotland and Wales. I am sure there will not be many crying about her death. To me all the money spent on the funeral is a farce our wonderful chancellor is cutting every thing in site and yet is happy to pay £10 million for all but a state funeral in name. Perhaps he will shed tears for all the people who are struggling to make ends meet.

I agree BBH I did not watch the funeral and I am glad about that. All that hot air about her made me feel sick.People forget what damage she did to this country in saying that I mean the North of England, Scotland and Wales. I am sure there will not be many crying about her death. To me all the money spent on the funeral is a farce our wonderful chancellor is cutting every thing in site and yet is happy to pay £10 million for all but a state funeral in name. Perhaps he will shed tears for all the people who are struggling to make ends meet.

Again let the Unions look to themselves, then and perhaps only then can she be criticised

I watched a bit of it. Over here the news coverage is more taken up with the awfulness in Boston.

I'm glad there wasn't any major ugliness by protestors. I was surprised by the lack of crowd support in numbers in some parts of the procession route, and thought it was odd that the cameras didn't follow the hearse when it left St. Paul's. The crowd cheering outside were handpicked.

I may have felt some respect towards Maggie if she had a quiet and dignified exit from our world, but watching the whole 10 million pounds worth of pomp which she apparently planned in detail for herself made me feel uncomfortable.

Our PM (and his wife) was there, along with Brian Mulroney (who was Conservative leader and PM here the same time she was in power) our foreign affairs Minister John Baird, and some other obscure Conservative MP guy named Ed Holder was there.Don't know yet if your taxes or mine, but apparently Maggs made up her own invitation list so I can only guess it's on the UK tab.

Sorry about that.

Cheers from Canada, and cheers to Maggs for helping me make the decision to come here.

Perhaps,but she did tremendous damage to UK by making it a them and us society. In the end she was kicked out by her own party. She did not even see it coming it was time for her to go. She was a one woman party who did not listen to her colleges she was far to strident in her opinions. I for one was pleased to see her go.

Perhaps,but she did tremendous damage to UK by making it a them and us society. In the end she was kicked out by her own party. She did not even see it coming it was time for her to go. She was a one woman party who did not listen to her colleges she was far to strident in her opinions. I for one was pleased to see her go.

Sorry I forgot to make my comment.Little Buddha you are forgetting that Maggie Thatcher was an elected PM and only the people should be allowed to get rid of an elected PM The Labour party did the same to Tony Blair and gave us Gordon Brown Neither of these actions were democratic and both of them brought disaster